


Chasing Strays

by MommaUrsa



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 16:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4311657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MommaUrsa/pseuds/MommaUrsa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stray!Jason AU. </p>
<p>Damian was ten when he donned his first cape as Robin, and he was ten when he first met Stray. The older boy was annoying, always flirting and imitating his mentor. He was Selina’s shadow, an echo that was so close to being a perfect imitation. Even if he was annoying, Damian had to admit that the boy was fascinating. Anytime Stray – Jason – would invite him to deviate from his night duties as Robin, he found himself agreeing and patrolling with the older boy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chasing Strays

                Damian was ten when he donned his first cape as Robin, and he was ten when he first met Stray. The older boy was annoying, always flirting and imitating his mentor. He was Selina’s shadow, an echo that was so close to being a perfect imitation. Even if he was annoying, Damian had to admit that the boy was fascinating. Anytime Stray – Jason – would invite him to deviate from his night duties as Robin, he found himself agreeing and patrolling with the older boy.

                They had a strong friendship, one forged from shared patrols, from hard situations where they both almost lost their lives, from missions where the only reason they made it was because they had one another.

                Damian was sixteen when he traded his cape in, moving on to a new identity as Red Bird until his father felt he was skilled enough to take on Batman. This identity lasted a few years, until he turned twenty, and his father gifted him with his own cape and cowl.

                Over those years, Stray’s outfit changed, though the identity remained. At twelve – because the man was two years older than Damian – his outfit consisted of black cargos and a t-shirt. The outfit was modest, always making him look more like a hoodlum than a cat on days his face was decorated with bandaids. He had his cowl, though it was more of a helmet – Selina was so protective of her kitten, he knew that just from seeing the amount of armor she put on him – with black ears poking off the top.  The lenses of his goggles had been gold when he was young, but as he grew, he changed them out for a pair of red lenses.

                Damian had watched Stray grow up. Now, the cargo pants remained, though they were fitted, and the baggy shirt that covered the torso of a kid that was entirely too skinny had been exchanged for a black muscle shirt and fitted leather jacket. Jason was no longer a scrawny child. He filled out, muscles stretching along long limbs. At 5’8”, Jason was shorter than Damian.

                 Stray had grown, Damian thought to himself as he looked the man over. Even though Damian was Batman, the two liked to patrol Crime Alley together. They made it a once-a-week date – a date, because that’s what Jason had called it, and it made Damian’s heart flutter to hear the word fall from Jason’s lips – that neither of them liked to miss. They were cleaning up the dirtiest place in Gotham, and spending these moments as partners.

                Jason was perched on the rooftop, sitting beside Damian with his legs dangling off the side of the building. He held a cigarette to his lips, inhaling deeply as he reached for his cowl. The helmet had been replaced by a material that made the cowl look more like Selina’s. He pulled it off, letting the fabric wrinkle in his fingers as he sat it on the leather jacket laid out beside him. He lifted his hand again, and then ran it through the black mess that the cowl left.

                “You’re never going to fix it,” Damian teased, lips curling into a small smirk as he reached for the box of food resting between them. He picked up a fry, and then took a bite. “You’re always a mess.”

                Jason rolled his eyes at that. He reached over, gently punching Damian’s arm. “And you’re _always_ an asshole,” he laughed.  He turned his head, flashing Damian a smile that had the younger man’s heart fluttering the same way it did when Jason had called this a _date_.  He may have been the son of Bruce Wayne, but it didn’t mean he went on many dates. The ones he did go on were special, and the very thought of that made his heart warm up.

                “Maybe- Maybe I like that you’re a mess,” Damian told the man, tearing his gaze away so he could look out at Crime Alley. It was dirty. Most of the buildings were boarded up, condemned because of lack of maintenance. He could see the pieces of Old Gotham, buildings that used to cater to the elite. They had turned their back on this place, turning a blind eye and letting the people they left behind suffer once the businesses began closing down.

                Crime Alley needed people like him and Jason, people who couldn’t turn their back on them. It was one of the reasons he loved Jason.

                “Well, I definitely like that you’re an asshole,” Jason told him, exhaling smoke before leaning over and pressing a kiss against Damian’s cheek. “You’re cute.”

                Damian rolled his eyes as he gently shoved Jason away. “And you’re a _dick_ -“ he was cut off by the gentle press of Jason’s lips against his own. He wasted no time deepening it, making Damian melt as he sat beside Stray. The man tasted like cigarettes and sweat. It wasn’t pleasant, but the kiss itself had him melting, dropping his arms so his hands were resting on Jason’s thigh.

                Jason slowed the kiss and eased himself out of it. He pressed a chaste one to the tip of Damian’s nose, lips brushing the pointed tip of the black cowl. He chuckled softly, shaking his head as he leaned back. “You love it.”

                Damian licked his lips slowly, inclining his head as he looked Jason over. “Perhaps.”


End file.
